Foreign-sourced vs Australia-sourced income as temporary resident?

 Author: JayATO(Community Support)Community Support

28 May 2026

Hi @Bettyxu,

The sourcing of your income depends on where you physically perform the work, not where the company is based or where the money is paid.

As a temporary resident who is also an Australian resident for tax purposes, you need to declare income from tutoring services you perform while physically in Australia, even though the company is based in New Zealand and pays into an overseas bank account.

The income from tutoring you do while physically located in Australia is Australian-sourced income and is taxable. The income from tutoring you perform while physically located outside Australia may be taxable depending on your particular facts and the operation of the Australia-New Zealand tax treaty.

As a temporary resident, you're generally only taxed on income you derive in Australia and, in certain circumstances, income you earn from employment or services performed overseas. Most of your foreign income isn't taxed here. However, the fact that the company is based overseas and pays you overseas doesn't automatically make all your income 'foreign-sourced' if you're performing the work while in Australia.

You'll need to split your tutoring income based on where you physically performed the services. The portion earned while working in Australia must be declared in your Australian tax return. If you paid tax in New Zealand on any of this income, you may be entitled to claim a foreign income tax offset.

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